With armed occupation troops patrolling shuttered streets and Kashmiri leaders locked up, Indian held Kashmiris voted in a state election on Monday, casting their ballots for better roads and civic amenities.
It was too early to get a firm idea of the turnout across the state on Monday morning, but it was clear that many Muslim Kashmiris were voting for better local government even if they did not accept Indian rule in their troubled state.
Kashmiri leaders, who either want Muslim-majority Kashmir to become independent or part of Pakistan, have appealed for a boycott of the vote, after some of the biggest anti-India protests in held Kashmir this year. The response seemed to be mixed.
At one polling station in Ajas village, political parties brought in voters in jeeps, while a group of other men stood watching warily from a distance. Suddenly, some of them began shouting "Azadi Azadi". In Bandipora, Tariq Ahmed, a young man, said he would not vote. "We don't want election, we want freedom."
Monday is the first day of a seven-stage election across the entire state. The held Kashmir valley remains the focus of the vote after police killed at least 42 people this year during pro-independence protests. Kashmiris predict a low turnout in the held Kashmir Valley.
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